TRANMERE ROVERS have reported back for pre-season training - minus one very influential face.

Striker Iain Hume will not be back with his club-mates until the end of the month, as he represents Canada in the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition in America.

After first playing a warm up friendly against Honduras tomorrow in British Columbia, Canada go into the Gold Cup in Group B alongside Costa Rica, Cuba and the hosts USA.

Depending on Canada's progress, Hume could be in America until July 24. The group stages end on July 12.

Boss Brian Little, meanwhile, was looking forward to welcoming back the rest of his squad to Prenton Park.

He said: "I don't think it matters how many years you've been in football, your first day in pre-season is an enjoyable day. I've found that as a player, a coach and a manager.

"There's an unbelievable amount of dressing room banter that goes on. Everybody is laughing and joking and talking about their holidays. The fixtures are out so the players know what is about to come their way and you still reminisce about last season as well."

Rovers will play nine pre-season friendlies this summer, three more than the same time last season, and the manager is hoping the added practice will prove worthwhile in the first fixture against Swan-sea City.

"The foundations of what we did last season are still there, he added. "But looking at the first game of last season against Peterborough perhaps we were a yard off the pace.

"We've thrown a couple more games in and we'll decide how much we give players to see if we can hopefully start the season better than we did last season."